TECH Bits: Streamys Steam Past Sunday Reality Shows Online

Admittedly, they’re cherry picking, but the Streamy Awards folks are bragging about the social-media buzz around their online-only show versus two big network reality shows, Fox’sjust-launched Utopiaand the venerable CBS creepfest Big Brother. Here are the numbers:

That said, the figures are still impressive. By the way, the social-media numbers for the Streamys – which last year were viewed live by about 700,000 people and then watched later by about 7 million – came from Sysomos, because Nielsen only measures social reach for broadcast shows. So, maybe it’s a different set of fruit, apples and oranges, or possibly nectarines and peaches, but an interesting data snack regardless.

In-movie shopping site TheTake takes $2M to finance app and growth

Startup TheTake, which has technology to allow viewers to buy products they see in films, raised $2 million in a seed round that it will use to create a Shazam-like mobile app and expand its small database of films and the products they used. The app, which uses electronic “fingerprint” technology to detect what film scene is being watched, is expected to launch this fall on Apple’s App Store.

The company’s website includes a searchable Pinterest-like interface to let shoppers browse through products that they’ve seen in films. Investors included Halic, LLC, Demarest Films, Archer Gray and Ben Silverman, the former NBC exec who is now chairman of Electus. The site was founded by Columbia University students and is headed by Tyler Cooper, a former MGM Studios sales executive.

PBS and PBS Kids will now be available for free on Amazon’s Fire TV device in the United States, with both full-length episodes and clips. Amazon launched the Fire TV earlier this year to compete with other small streaming-video devices such as the Apple TV, Roku and Google’s Chromecast.

The programming is free for Fire TV users, who can also get a more personalized experience by creating a profile and identifying their local PBS station. The offerings will include hundreds of episodes of new and archival content, from both national and local sources, including American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Masterpieceand Nova. The offerings will also include a dozen original series from PBS Digital Studios.

The PBS Kids Channel will include episodes and clips from Dinosaur Train, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Arthur, Wild Kratis and Pet + Cat, as well as the recently launched bonus half hour of Sesame Street.